BONUS. Destigmatizing Abortion Through Photography with the Abortion Project
Heather and Sarah are full spectrum doulas and founders of The Abortion Project, a documentary photography project that demystifies and destigmatizes medication abortion. They tell us about the project, how they support people who are having abortions, and how you can offer the same support to a loved one.
Full transcript below.
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Garnet Henderson [00:00:31] Hello and welcome to another bonus episode of ACCESS, a podcast about abortion. I'm your host, Garnet Henderson. Recently I sat down, via Zoom of course, with Heather and Sarah, two doulas who created The Abortion Project. It's a documentary photography project that aims to demystify and destigmatize medication abortion. We talked about how the project came to be, how Heather and Sarah support people who are having abortions, and how you can support a loved one who's having an abortion, especially if you can't be there in person because of the pandemic. Here's our conversation.
Heather [00:01:20] Right, I'm Heather and I am a full spectrum doula and documentary photographer.
Sarah [00:01:27] And I'm Sarah, I'm also a full spectrum doula.
Garnet [00:01:30] And for anybody who doesn't know, could you just say a little bit about what a doula is, what a doula does?
Sarah [00:01:36] Yep. So a lot of people think of a doula specifically for birth. And so a doula is somebody who would support people, whether emotionally, physically giving them an informational, I'm sorry.
Heather [00:01:48] Information, resources.
Sarah [00:01:52] Or, you know, educational tools, things like that. But a full spectrum doula is somebody who goes and supports all different types of pregnancy outcomes. So whether somebody is having an abortion or a miscarriage or stillbirth, they can support people who are going through the adoption process. So it really does cover, you know, a vast.
Heather [00:02:15] Full spectrum.
Sarah [00:02:16] Full spectrum.
Heather [00:02:16] Of pregnancy outcomes, yeah.
Garnet [00:02:20] And tell me a little bit about The Abortion Project and how it came to be.
Heather [00:02:25] So I had a medical abortion last year and Sarah was my doula for it. And I kind of went into it without knowing what to expect because I had only ever seen surgical like abortions in the clinic setting. So I really felt kind of unprepared and nervous and scared and about my abortion experience. And then it was shortly after Sarah had taken some pictures with her cell phone for me of my of my abortion and shared them with me. And I think we had just talked back and forth, back and forth a couple of times about how powerful the images were for me to process my experience. And I come from a background of being a birth photographer. And I realized I had drawn a lot of parallels between my own births and my abortion. And then I was drawing parallels between birth photography and what could be abortion photography. And we both just felt really passionate about the idea that there was nothing out there that was really preparing people for what medical abortions actually are like. And so we thought that we could start this project and show with photography what abortions look like so that people can be more prepared, less, the whole thing could be less stigmatized, less fear surrounding it. Yeah. So that's kind of where it was born.
Garnet [00:03:56] And it sounds like you were interested in showing medication abortions specifically, like you said, because you feel like you just hadn't seen as much information out there about that?
Heather [00:04:06] Yes, exactly. We feel like the media, I mean, doesn't do a great job of showing abortion that much, but there is a surgical abortion out there whenever it is covered. So this was something that was very new to me. And it's not new to the world. But I knew that there would be other people out there like me that needed to see it and just draw more exposure for medical abortions.
Garnet [00:04:31] And so you've made this beautiful zine. And tell me a little bit about how you find participants who are willing to be photographed and then what kind of conversations you're having with them beforehand about boundaries and what they're comfortable with?
Sarah [00:04:48] Yeah. So right now, finding participants has been a little bit tricky, but it's been a lot of like word of mouth or so far in our experience, that might be like a friend of a friend of a friend type of thing. And then with conversations, I feel like Heather's really good at talking to people about, you know, if if you want to be involved, but maybe you don't want to be identified, like there won't be any identifiable information and the images or their face doesn't have to be in it. If they don't want that, I don't know. What else do you feel like you cover?
Heather [00:05:21] Yeah. We also made an abortion intentions plan that we give out as a free PDF on our website or on our blog. And we've had that that we've gone over with the last couple of our participants where it's really helping them set their intentions for it and letting us know what what role we're going to play as doulas for them and supporting them. So I definitely think that oh, and also the day that we show up for the abortion, we usually show up about an hour or two early so that we're really getting comfortable with the participant and going over that intentions plan. And it's not just two strangers coming in with a camera in your face right off the bat, like as soon as you take the pills, like we usually try to, like, ease into it and have as much communication with them as possible.
Garnet [00:06:12] Sure. And I know that you also aren't just there taking photos. So tell us a little bit more about what abortion support looks like and what else you're providing for these participants in your project?
Sarah [00:06:25] Yeah, so I think what she was saying, just helping with preparation first and foremost. So really having those conversations with people about things to expect, what they should have at home if they're able to. And so often we're just reminding them to like, make sure you have food, you know, because that can be a big thing for people is like if they haven't gone to the grocery store, or don't have a plan to order something in or something. Then all of a sudden they're starving and they're like, oh, wait, I didn't really think about food. So just simple things like that. But being there and reminding them to stay hydrated, being there just to to even be a witness with somebody and reminding them like, yes, this is normal, this looks OK, I think can be a really big benefit to people because, you know, there are often times that people might run to the emergency room because they don't know. Maybe they're thinking, oh, this bleeding looks like it's too much because, again, people aren't being prepared, I don't think, in an appropriate way, like sometimes they'll just say, hey, it'll look like a hheavy period, but it's hard to distinguish what a heavy period really means, especially to each individual. But, yeah, we're you know, we're with them. We're in the space with them. We might be, you know, having like a cold cloth on their face nearby if they get too hot or Heather might be fanning them or bringing different like essential oils in. You know, like let's say that somebody is really, really tired, especially depending on the time of day that somebody is doing it or like, you know, if they worked overnight and just just how people's lives are in the time that they have to do it. So we might bring, like, some peppermint oil for them to smell and kind of like wake up a little bit or the opposite if they're having lots of anxiety, maybe smelling some lavender. But I really think a lot of the doula support is often it's just like those very simple things. But having that person by your side reminding you that you're going to get through this and that this is it's normal, you know, like this is common. People are doing this all the time and just reassuring them that everything's OK.
Garnet [00:08:26] Yeah. And as you mentioned earlier, you know, in some of the photos, you can see people's faces. In others you can't. But I still find that those photos feel very intimate and human, even when you can't necessarily see people's faces. And they're also very raw at times. Like you guys don't shy away from showing blood and the bodily fluids that are part of having an abortion or birth. So I assume that a lot of that also comes from your experience as a birth photographer. But I was wondering if you could say a little bit about, you know, what do you what do you look for when you're taking photos and then when you're choosing which ones you're going to include in the zine? What are the kinds of things that stand out to you that you really want to capture?
Heather [00:09:16] I think that, like you said, I'm really drawn to the raw kind of truth of the moment. And like like you said, I don't shy away from things that maybe other people would just because that's my own inquisitiveness. Like that's what I would want to see. And that's the kind of information that I would want to have. So kind of the stuff that nobody talks about is what I want to show and that, you're exactly right, that comes from me being a birth photographer. Those are the type of things that I'm drawn to in birth. And really, it's just showing the truth of whatever is laid out in front of me and just being bold enough to put my camera in the middle of it and not shy away from it. With respect, and, you know, with grace. I feel like, you know, there's times when you put the camera down and there's times that you shoot through it. And I'm lucky enough to have Sarah there with me acting as a doula full time so that there are moments where she's supporting the person that I can shoot through. So that is really beneficial because sometimes when I'm a doula at a birth, you have to make the decision. But with The Abortion Project, I don't ever have to make that decision, which is really nice.
Garnet [00:10:31] Yeah. And how has Covid affected what you to do? Tell me a little bit about that.
Sarah [00:10:40] Yeah, we've supported one person. The last person that we supported was at the very beginning where like people were still maybe wearing masks, like if they wanted to. And we were just kind of still comfortable taking the opportunity to go and do it. But I think we felt very paranoid the whole time because you're in a small space with this essential stranger and you don't know their history. So we made the decision after that to stop taking participants on due to covid. But now I think we're getting back to a place where, because we are so used to it now, like the precautions and things like that, that we are willing to start taking on participants again and even traveling if need be. And but just taking those precautions and making sure that we we talk to the participant ahead of time. And really, I don't want to say precautions again. Oh, my gosh. But really just doing what we can to make sure that both sides are as safe as can be.
Garnet [00:11:48] Mm hmm. Yeah, I know that this has been a really difficult time for everyone, obviously, but in particular for people having abortions who normally would be able to bring a support person with them to the clinic. And they can't really do that right now. And yeah. So I'm wondering if you have any ideas, especially if somebody has maybe a friend or a family member who's going to have an abortion. Any ideas for how people can support a loved one virtually right now if they aren't able to be physically present with them because of the pandemic?
Sarah [00:12:24] I really love the idea of care packages. And so even if somebody can't be there in person, they could always put together a little care package for them. And again, on our website, there's a blog post that, you know, talks about. Some of those different items are also on our Instagram. People can see just what we put in our care package. But of course, it can be whatever that person feels is good for the person that they're going to be supporting. But, yeah, like you're saying, that virtual support. And so I'm still supporting people virtually, even if people don't want to be a part of the project. But and that usually just looks like being on call for that person. You know, as far as like phone calls go or text messages go, they can always FaceTime, and that might feel really good for that person. But reminding those people, again, like helping them to prepare and so people can always give them our intentions care plan. That's really wonderful. Just letting them know, like, hey, you know, remember to have ibuprofen around if that's something that you take or having a heating pad available, things like that. And again, if they don't have those things, that could also maybe be something that's in the care package.
Garnet [00:13:29] Mm hmm. Great. Yeah. And I can link to those things on the website, too. So you made volume one of this zine. Tell me what's next. Do you have plans for future volumes? What are you thinking for the future?
Heather [00:13:44] Yeah, we have two more volumes planned out as of now with participants that we've been able to photograph. And we're hoping, like we said, to be able to take on new participants and do at least five zines is kind of the goal that we have for ourselves right now. And then kind of take it more public when we have like a nice collection of zines. And we would really love to be like a go-to resource for people. I don't I don't know, like we're dreaming kind of big, like we say, we would love to be like a household name when it comes to abortion. You know that people know the abortion project and they know ourzines. And to be able to grow from there and maybe make a big book someday, maybe become a hub, we're not really we're not really sure where it's going to take us yet. But yeah, we definitely in 2021 will be releasing at least two more zines that we're really excited to get out there. Like, it's so hard to sit on the images and not share them all right away. So we're really looking forward to getting those out.
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Garnet [00:15:05] You can visit theabortionproject.com to learn more or order a zine, and you can also follow Heather and Sarah on Instagram @theabortionproject. Thanks so much to them for joining us today. ACCESS is produced by me, Garnet Henderson. Our logo is by Kate Ryan and our theme music is by Lily Sloane. Please subscribe to ACCESS wherever you get your podcasts. We are an independent production that relies on listener support. You can support the show by visiting glow.fm/apodcastaboutabortion. And one of the biggest things that you can do for us is to help more people find the show. So share it directly with a friend or share on social media. We're on Instagram and Twitter @accesspod. You can also leave a rating or review wherever you listen. That really does help more people find us. A full transcript of this episode is available on our website, apodcastaboutabortion.com.
